The Survivor (1998)
5/10
Enjoyable but forgettable sci-fi actioner featuring a fantastic Richard Moll
22 April 2024
Not a bad sci-fi actioner. It can drag a bit in parts. What undermines it, for me, are some missed opportunities, story-wise, that I can't go into detail about without spoiling the movie. Nevertheless, I will say I found the heroes unheroic and selfish at the end, which dampened the ending for me.

The Outsiders, a tribal race whose origins are unexplored, are forgettable and seemingly unimportant. Other than filling time, they don't contribute much to the story.

Additionally, there were some egregious omissions when it came to developing the relationship of a key protagonist and the antagonist of the movie. The movie would have been far stronger had it spent some time on that, but perhaps they didn't want to slow things down any further. As it was, the movie had too many slow moments.

Performances were adequate. Xavier Decile is good enough as Tarkin, but Lisa Robin Kelly's performance as Devin is a delight. She's spunky, luscious, ballsy. She is one of the few sparks that elevates the movie.

Of course, Richard Moll as Kyla is the real draw here. He's menacing, he's calculating, he's funny--he commands every scene he's in, though I give credit to Richard Herd, as President Bradford, who more than holds his own in his scenes with Moll. \

These three performers bring life and verve to the picture.

Special effects were fine, as were fight sequences.

The Survivor is forgettable, but it's not horrible. You could do a lot worse.
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